*Onuesoke urges FG to relocate multinational oil firms to N’Delta
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja and Sylvester Idowu in Warri
Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume, has replied critics of his recent comments on the planned relocation of the headquarters of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and some departments at the Central Bank of Nigeria from Abuja to Lagos.
This was as a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Delta State governorship aspirant, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has called on the federal government to relocate the headquarters of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and all multinational oil companies operating in the Niger Delta to the region.
Ndume had in an interview said the decision could have political consequences for President Bola Tinubu if not retracted.
He said his rejection of the planned relocation was borne out his patriotism and the need to tell Tinubu the truth about the whole arrangements.
Kogi West Senator, Sunday Karimi, and a former presidential spokesperson, Dr. Doyin Okupe had cautioned Ndume, saying his comments were capable of causing crisis.
But Ndume, yesterday, said it would be unpatriotic not to tell President Tinubu the truth about the happenings in the country.
Speaking on a live Television programme on Tuesday, Ndume, who is representing Borno South at the Senate, hadsaid Tinubu was being ill-advised by “Lagos boys” in the corridors of power.
“All these Lagos boys who are thinking that Lagos is Nigeria are just misinforming and advising the President wrongly,” Ndume was quoted as saying.
While Okupe and Karimi earlier disassociated themselves from the Borno lawmaker’s comment, Okupe later backtracked, stating that Ndume meant well for the country.
Responding to Karimi’s comment, Ndume said he did not speak on behalf of the Northern Senators or the Senate but as a Northerner in support of the majority of Northerners and some Nigerians who were against the action of thre CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, and the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo.
“With all due respect, I did not speak on behalf of the Northern Senators or the Senate but as a Northerner in support of the majority of Northerners and some Nigerians who are against the action of CBN Governor and the Minister of Aviation,
“A famous former American President said, patriotism means to stand by the country.’ It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country.
“It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country.
“In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else. To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
He, therefore, claimed that, “What I said is my personal opinion and position.”
But Onuesoke resonated the demand with respect to the recent federal government’s order for the relocation of the headquarters of CBN and FAAN to Lagos State.
The environmental activist, who made the call yesterday in Asaba, Delta State, said the relocation of the headquarters of the multinational oil companies from Lagos to Niger Delta region was long overdue.
“Most multinational and Nigerian oil and gas companies operating in the Niger Delta region had relocated their headquarters and operational bases to Lagos, citing security concerns and restiveness in the Niger Delta.
“Presently, all that had changed. The Niger Delta region is now more secure and peaceful than Lagos and other parts of the country. The Niger Delta people cannot continue to accept this kind of injustice,” hew said.
